Marketing morals, moralizing markets: Assessing the effectiveness of fair trade as a form of boycott

Abstract

Fair trade is one of the fastest growing markets globally. It is generally analysed as epitomizing the efforts of citizen-consumers to use the marketplace as a means of fostering social and political goals in a globalized world.The long historical roots of fair trade, however, are neglected both in historical research and in current debates on the benefits and pitfalls of fair trade. This article gives short comparative historical accounts of three periods of transnational consumer buycotts on labour issues: the white label campaigns at the turn of the 20th century, the alternative trading initiatives after the SecondWorldWar, and fair trade labelling after the mainstreaming and international harmonization of fair trade in the 1990s. Building on and informed by the exploration of these historical contexts the article then sets out to critically analyse the effectiveness of current fair trade labelling.This assessment of a specific buycott not only involves a review of existing studies on the effects on producers, but also takes into account the intended and unintended consequences and effects fair trade has on the values and cultural practices of consumers, on the political rules of international trade, and on the conventional trade regime and the broader economy.